JNU row: Sedition charges filed against Rahul Gandhi, Sitaram Yechury, Arvind Kejriwal

Confrontation between the government and the Opposition escalates after filing of sedition charges against Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and six others in connection with the JNU row, on the eve of the Budget.

As Delhi high court will hear Kanhaiya Kumar’s bail plea tomorrow, with Delhi police appraising the court on progress of its investigation of two other arrested students – Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, who had surrendered before police late on February 23 night.

The sedition charges against Congress vice president R Gandhi, CPI’s D Raja, CPI (M)’s Sitaram Yechury, AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal, Anand Sharma and JNU student leaders, Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid under section 124 A (sedition) in an FIR was registed by Saroornagar Police Station in Cyberabad, Telangana. “Following the court’s directive, a case under section 124A of the IPC (sedition) has been registered” against nine persons.

“The manner in which the sedition clause is being used in this case underlines the necessity to scrap the sedition clause 124A in the Indian Penal Code”, the Communist Party of India-Marxist said.

The case was filed in the court of Metropolitan Magistrate here on Thursday, seeking its direction to police for registration of a case against Kanhaiya and Khalid for allegedly raising anti-India and pro-Afzal Guru slogans on JNU campus and others. We will take a legal opinion on this and act accordingly.

They demanded dropping of sedition charges against the JNU students and action against Delhi Police chief B.S. Bassi, who will retire on Monday.

“Along with Jaiprakash Narayan, Ram Manohar Lohiya, Chaudhary Charan Singh, Atal Behari Vajpayee, we have faced all these charges”.

He said, “Reminds me of emergency when such charges were imposed to muzzle opposition voices”. He made it clear that the issue would be raised in Parliament.

“The budget session is on”. “The day we turn anti-nationals, there will be no nationalists in the country”, said Mr. Tyagi.